ENSEMBLE WELCOMES DRAGON Herjavec speaks at conference
Posted on 10/28/2016 | About San Diego, California
Ensemble Travel Group’s annual conference took place October 19 to 23 in San Diego where Canadian Robert Herjavec shared his insights on the travel agency profession and his strategies for business success. Ensemble recognized their preferred partners as the driving force for their own success.
Herjavec was a regular on Canada’s reality television programme, “Dragon’s Den” for seasons one to six as well as a member of “Shark Tank” in the US. Recently he has been a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars”
He is the CEO and owner of Herjavec Group, a cyber security firm in Toronto.
The entrepreneur told the audience about one of the worst decisions he has ever made was when Air Canada cut travel agent commissions, and his travel agent of 14 years advised him that she would have to charge his company a service fee to book air.
He told his employees to book their own flights on-line instead; thinking that paying a professional to do something that the staff could do themselves was a waste of money.
The company went back to using their agent to book their flights and “Laurie” has been doing that for years since.
Ensemble Travel Group recognized their top producers in Canada based on 2015 sales of Ensemble preferred partners
• Adventure House Travel, Oakville, ON
• Cruise Connections Canada Ltd., Vancouver, BC
• CruisePlus Management Ltd, Lantzville, BC
• Jubilee Tours & Travel Ltd., Burnaby, BC
• Escapes.ca/Skyland Travel Inc., Vancouver, BC
• TierOne Travel Inc., Calgary, AB
• TravelOnly, Brantford, ON
• Travel Masters, Vancouver, BC
• Tully Luxury Travel, Mississauga, ON
• Ucruising of Unionville, Markham, ON
In addition, the ‘Highest Growth Award’ went to 5 10 Travel of Toronto for achieving the highest year-over-year growth based on 2015 preferred partner sales compared to 2014.
Partners honoured based on member votes and input:
• 2016 Cruise Partner of the Year – Regent Seven Seas Cruises
• 2016 Outstanding Agency Support (cruise) – Holland America Line
• 2016 Outstanding Marketing Partner (cruise) – Oceania Cruises
• 2016 Tour Partner of the Year – Globus family of brands
• 2016 Outstanding Agency Support (tour) – WestJet Vacations
• 2016 Outstanding Marketing Partner (tour) – Transat
• 2016 Air Partner of the Year – WestJet Airlines
• 2016 Air Outstanding Agency Support – Air New Zealand
• 2016 Business Services/Insurance Partner of the Year – Manulife
North American awards, reflecting the input of both Canadian and US members, as announced at the Circle of Excellence gala:
• 2016 Transportation Partner of the Year – AvisBudget Group
• 2016 Transportation Outstanding Agency Support – Vitesse Worldwide
• 2016 Ensemble On Location Partner of the Year – TFL Tours (Italy)
• 2016 Hotel Partner of the Year – Hyatt Hotels & Resorts
• 2016 Hotel Marketing Partner of the Year – Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
• 2016 Cruise Specialty Partner of the Year – Paul Gauguin Cruises
• 2016 Land Specialty Partner of the Year – Rocky Mountaineer
• 2016 River Cruise Partner of the Year – Avalon Waterways
• 2016 Experiential/Adventure Partner of the Year – Kensington Tours
